June 9, 2013 / Leslie

Sunday in the Garden

Birds, Garden, What am I reading, Wildflowers

Lazy Day

Today is a good day for writing, reading, gardening and relaxing. It’s been a busy week! The photo above is my backyard wildflower garden. I put it in a few years ago and the perennials are starting to fill out. I am now able to divide some of them and move the plants to the new garden out front. A cheap and easy way to get more plants.

The deck runs the entire length of the house, but this section is my favorite place to sit. While I was having breakfast outside this morning I was hearing the squawking sound of baby birds. I looked up and there were four baby Starlings and a frantic dad trying to feed them.

Besides being cute and adorable, baby birds are comical to watch. They are almost the same size as the adults and can fly, although not that well, but they don’t know how to forage for food. They will squawk and flutter their wings and then open their mouths waiting for someone to feed them! After all four of them had enough of the suet they flew off and I watched them circle. Perhaps they were getting flying lessons.

Volunteer Bird Monitor

I will be getting a lot of exercise this summer. I volunteered to monitor one of the local forest preserve trails for nesting bird species.

This means I get to wake up at 6am and identify and count birds at several points along the paths in the prairie and woodlands. It gives me the opportunity to take photos when the lighting is good, the birds are active and the people are not.

What am I Reading?

I’m not real big on planning ahead but I managed to accept a few too many review books for June and July. So planning is now necessary. I thought I would have lots of time to read in the summer but it’s the opposite. I’m doing summertime things and have less time.

Here’s what at the top of the to read/listen pile for the next couple weeks:

Print:
• If You Were Here by Alafair Burke (TLC Tour)
• The Backyard Bird Sanctuary by George Adams
• The Resurrectionist by E.B. Hudspeth
• The Best of Connie Willis: Award-Winning Stories

Audiobooks:
• Under the Dome by Stephen King (for the #DomeAlong readathon)
• Frozen In Time by Mitchell Zuckoff
• The Black Country by Alex Grecian
• The Sociopath Next Door: The Ruthless Versus the Rest of Us by Martha Stout (for my non-fiction book club)